Dale Upstead
Dale Henry Jenson Upstead was born 2nd September 2062 to Marie Ackton (d. 2nd September 2062) and Heath Upstead, in Manchester, England. He is the younger half-brother of Daniel and Jake Upstead, and the older half-brother of twins Cole and Dexter Upstead. He also has two older step-siblings: Ryan Upstead and Reese Fritzera. Dale started his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 2074 and was sorted into Hufflepuff house. He graduated with the class of 2081 and went on to study Wizarding Law and History of Magic at Wizarding University on the Edinburgh campus. Dale has since graduated with his joint honours degree, and worked as a scribe for the British Ministry of Magic (Department of Law Enforcement) from January 2086 to December 2088. He currently lives alone in Ambleside, Cumbria, and now works as a wizarding attorney. Personality and Key Characteristics Growing up around many siblings for the majority of his life, Dale very quickly learned how to be a good mediator, a skill that still comes in handy particularly with his two younger brothers. He was easily the quietest in the family through childhood, preferring to stay in the background and keep to himself a lot in contrast to the usual Upstead craziness. Though he was very shy and quiet through his teen years, Dale has since found his confidence and is much more likely to speak up and give his opinions, make friends, and socialise. He is still, however, very much an introvert. In contrast to the majority of the members of the Upstead family, Dale is remarkably calm, sensible, and very rarely loses his temper. He automatically assumes a caretaker role with his brothers and friends, if they'll let him, and is usually good to go to for some fair, unbiased advice. He has managed to steer clear of angst and drama in his life, unintentionally (though he certainly is not complaining). However, though on the surface he is gentle and unassuming, those who get to know Dale will no doubt get a glimpse of a slightly more wild side (proving that he does, in fact, live up to his surname). Though not the smartest of his brothers, Dale has always been considered something of a 'complete dork' (in the affectionate words of his brother) due to the fact that he enjoys reading, especially on the subject of history. Developing an interest in law and legislation as well as politics, often considered to be complicated subjects, only helped to cement this view. Dale does not mind, as his family are still very supportive of his ambitions. Even Jake, though it is not uncommon for Dale to hear the soft cry of 'neeeeeeeeeeerd' from him across the room when he is reading up on his wizarding and muggle law in his leisure time. But Dale is ambitious, and intends on working his way up through the ranks of the working world; he knows that to do that he needs to know his stuff. Dale has a real way with words, a talent he picked up from his father, and has been described as having a 'silver tongue', which surprised those who always knew him as a quiet, reserved boy. Whether it be witty comebacks, talking his way into or out of something, giving advice, or knowing when to keep his mouth shut altogether, he usually tends to know exactly what to say. He is not afraid to weild sarcasm, but knows there is a time and a place. And if he really wants something, Dale is usually capable of finding a way to talk his way into getting it, though whether he acts on that is a different matter entirely. History and Early Life Dale was born in Manchester, England, to unwed parents Marie Ackton and Heath Upstead. Heath had no parents of his own to speak of, having grown up in a wizarding foster home, and Marie had turned her back on her own family, after a lot of conflict and many disagreements regarding their opinions of Heath. Due to complications and difficult circumstances, Dale’s mother died within hours of giving birth to him. As a result of this, Dale was raised by his father, who had two previous sons (though was not in contact with either, having abandoned both) and was, for the first time in his life, eager to step up to the role and not make the same mistakes again. Heath vowed to put in the effort to make a living and earn enough money to support them both, even though he was now a single father with no other known family to count on for help. He never asked Marie's parents for help due to his pride and respect for Marie's feelings about them. The first few years of Dale's life were, therefore, relatively difficult. Despite these early hardships, Dale had a relatively well-rounded childhood, wanting for very little, particularly as his father, Heath (a charismatic businessman with the ability to sweet-talk almost anyone), soon became moderately wealthy in a suspiciously short space of time. By the time Dale was four, Heath had amassed enough money to move back south to the county of Hertfordshire, just outside of London, into an excessively large house in the countryside (which remains the family home to date). Dale’s father would often bring him along to business meetings, finding that the boy’s coy cute kid charm would often work in his favour when brokering deals. Though Dale had no idea of the nature of these meetings, this was the start of his interest in 'proper grown up work'. He was particularly enamoured with the possibility of 'wearing those cool suits' like his father. When Dale was five, his father met a woman called Victoria Northway, and the pair were soon married after a whirlwind romance. This marked the beginning of a slightly more hectic home life. Victoria had two children from a previous marriage, Ryan, who came to live with them, and Reese, who joined the family after finishing her fourth year at Hogwarts. That same summer one of Heath’s other sons, Jake, came to stay with them too having just finished his first year. This arrangement lasted for only one summer before Jake moved on, but it was during this summer that Dale got a hold of his big brother's wand and accidentally turned the older boy's hair bright pink, an affliction that lasted two whole years before it finally wore off. Dale was eight years old when there were two more additions to the family in the form of identical twins, Cole and Dexter. Being a reasonably intelligent child who knew where babies came from, Dale was a little confused at their sudden appearance, as his step-mother, Victoria, had not been pregnant, and he had heard nothing about getting any new siblings until only a few days before their arrival at the house. When he expressed this confusion to his father, Heath simply explained that the twins had come from somewhere else, but that they were still his little brothers, and that he would tell him more when he was old enough to understand. Dale accepted this and soon embraced his big brother status, much to his parents' relief, as they had been worried he would not react well to no longer being the baby of the family after having had very little warning. Throughout most of his childhood, Dale was privately homeschooled by a tutor. In the two years before starting at Hogwarts, however, he was also allowed to attend the local muggle primary school when it was clear he had few problems with accidental magic and was about to keep quiet about the wizarding world. He attended this school for two days a week, and was taught by his tutor the rest of the time, so he could be prepared to start at wizarding school. Hogwarts At age eleven, Dale received his acceptance letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. At first his father was reluctant in allowing him to attend, eager to send him to Durmstrang (his own alma mater) instead, and even Jake, who had since been adopted and had little contact with his birth father, wrote to request that Dale attend a different school. Some of the strange circumstances at Hogwarts had made both Heath and Jake uneasy, with the latter having witnessed and been involved with some first hand. However, Dale was persistent and persuasive and, with the help of his step-mother, talked his father into letting him go to Hogwarts. He had his heart firmly set on the British wizarding school, and was not about to let anything stop him getting it, though he was quick to assure his father and brother that he would be sure to stay as safe as possible at school, and write every week to let them know he was okay. Throughout his entire Hogwarts career, Dale did just this, even sending letters to Jake once his big brother's replies suddenly stopped. When he arrived at Hogwarts, Dale was sorted into Hufflepuff, the house his brother had been a member of. The Hat deliberated for some time between Hufflepuff and Slytherin, and he was twenty-three seconds short of becoming an official Hat Stall. Dale settled into his house quickly, feeling as though he fit there well even though his shyness still held him back. Though he always liked to keep the details of his Sorting private, Dale was also proud of his apparently strong Slytherin traits as well. At school, Dale was very quiet and kept mostly to himself, preferring to stay in the background and blend in rather than be noticed. He soon became aware that, due to his brother, the surname ‘Upstead’ carried certain connotations in some people's eyes, and he was sure to avoid getting into anyone's bad books, particularly the professors. Though he had to deal with this reputation through no fault of his own, Dale still enjoyed this connection to his brother, even though the older boy had apparently moved on to a new life. When he discovered that he now slept in the same dormitory that his brother had once lived in, Dale was thrilled, and even moreso at the discovery that he had unwittingly picked the same bed (when he found the words 'jake slepd heer' carved into the underside of the bedframe). Dale's Hogwarts life passed relatively peacefully. Of course, there is never any escaping the Hogwarts craziness, but Dale managed to keep himself out of it and remained mostly unaffected. Much of his time was spent in the library or the dormitory when not in classes, and he decided against trying out for Quidditch as he didn't quite have the stomach for such a high speed game, being particularly sensitive to motion sickness (which had been a particularly devastating discovery as a child, as aside from being eager to play Quidditch, one of Dale's dreams had always been to fly a muggle aeroplane one day). When he was around thirteen, Dale stopped hearing back from his brother, Jake. He continued to write to him, and asked the few mutual friends and acquaintances they had to try and get back in contact with him, but it was almost as if his brother had blinked out of existence. Dale was upset and worried by this, but not necessarily surprised. He continued to write every week, not knowing if his brother was getting his letters, but unwilling to stop writing. A year or so later, in the summer before his fourth year, Dale finally thought to ask again about the origins of the twins. It was now that he learnt that the boys (who were now six years old) were not his younger brothers, but his nephews. The twins were actually the sons of Dale's oldest half-brother, Daniel, whom Dale had heard of but never met, and had been adopted by Heath and Victoria due to the difficult circumstances. Upon hearing this, Dale's attitude towards the boys did not change, he only insisted that they both grow up knowing the truth, and that it wasn't a secret worth keeping from them. Heath and Victoria agreed. Having got a decent set of OWL grades, Dale made the decision that he would apply for Wizarding University after graduating school, to obtain a degree in Law. By this point, he had developed his fascination for laws and law-breakers, and had a strangely extensive interest in politics for someone so young. He had briefly entertained the idea of going to a muggle university and studying to become a lawyer, but decided against it in favour for the wizarding world that he found infinitely more intriguing, particularly the history of the Wizengamot. It became a strange but strong ambition of his to work in close proximity to the court, perhaps in the Wizengamot administration services or the British Office of Wizarding Law. His family was supportive, and his father paid for an extra tutor to work with him through the summer, to ensure his NEWT grades would be up to par. Dale's final year at Hogwarts was an eventful one, with what seemed like everyone around him being affected by spiked ice cream. He found the dementor attacks particularly chilling, and began taking time out of his NEWT studies to work on conjuring a patronus after his Head of House was attacked as well as various other students. By the end of the year, he had mastered it, though thankfully did not personally need it. He avoided eating the spiked ice cream (a combination of luck, somewhat astute observation skills, and being mostly focused on other things), and so luckily his NEWT studies were not affected. At the end of his seventh year, Dale graduated earning seven NEWTs, enough to secure his place at university. Post Hogwarts Having graduated Hogwarts in 2081, a few months later Dale went off to Wizarding University, studying Wizarding Law and History of Magic at the Edinburgh campus. His wealthy father continued to provide money for his rent and living expenses (though Dale mostly lived at home during this time), provided he focus on his studies, which Dale was happy to do. It was around this time that Jake got back in touch with Dale, and despite some initial friction, they resumed regular contact and soon became close. Dale was surprised to hear that Jake was now working for the Ministry of Magic as a Hit Wizard, but pleased when Jake supported his own ambitions to join the same department in a slightly... safer career choice. After seven years of being a shy kid mostly in the background at Hogwarts, Dale was content to be exactly the same at university. However, in an environment of people with much of the same interests and similar ambitions, Dale's confidence started to grow. He became more vocal in classes, often giving input and opinions, and made connections with his peers as well as his professors. Eventually he started to get into the social scene of university, and found that he rather enjoyed it. Dale was in his element at university, and excelled here where at school he was more of an average student. He developed a tendency to get a little too absorbed and obsessed with the quality of work, but often had friends to help him snap out of it and remind him to have fun, though this is a habit that Dale still finds himself falling into. During his final year at university, Dale got himself a small tutoring job in his spare time, helping out mainly first year students with the course and organisational skills, thanks in part to his tendency to try looking after others and the boost of confidence he'd gained. Dale graduated from Wizarding University in the summer of 2085 with a first class joint honours degree, and moved back to the family home. He stayed here for the next few months, spending time with his family (dealing with the angst of his, at the time, feuding little brothers), before applying for a job with the Ministry of Magic at the end of the year. In January 2086, he began working for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, as a court scribe/stenographer in the Wizengamot Administration Services. A short while later, Dale and Jake, who had since quit his job as a Hit Wizard in favour of going back to university, moved into a house together in Cumbria. Achievements * Wizarding Law and History of Magic, 1st Class Joint Honours Degree (WU Edinburgh) Category:Class of 2081 Category:Characters Category:Hufflepuff Category:Alumni Category:Ministry of Magic Category:Department of Magical Law Enforcement Category:Wizarding University Alumni Category:Half-Blood